Members of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) have been trained in personal development and soft skills to help increase their employability chances.
The participants were taken through mindset development, leadership, time management, the change maker, action taking, solution thinking and teamwork.
The training, was organised by the Canadian firm, I Am Worth It Project (IAWI) at the 13th NASPA Mini Congress held in Ho, in the Volta Region on Wednesday.
Speaking at the mini congress, the lead trainer and founder of IAWIP, Tammy Sherger, said the research had showed that about 85 per cent of a person’s success came from their expertise in essential soft skills training, and mindset development hence the need for this exercise.
She added that the work of IAWIP had caused some institutions like the National Service Scheme (NSS), Ghana Youth Employment Agency, National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, to recognise that soft skills was absent in employees and continued to be overlooked in education and training in Ghana.
“Even though such essential or soft skills training and mindset development is an integral piece of the puzzle to help solve youth unemployment and increase the success ratio at workplace and entrepreneurship training programmes in Ghana, it was absent,” she explained.
Citing studies by the World Bank and International Labour Organisation (ILO), she said that young people in Ghana did not have the skills required by employers.
“Initiatives such as TVET curriculum reform, apprenticeships and in-service training have attempted to address technical skills shortcomings,” she said.
However, “there is increasing evidence to demonstrate that young people, even those with higher education qualifications, must have the essential cognitive, interpersonal and self-leadership skills to join the world of work and adapt to transforming economies,” she said.
In proposing solutions, she hinted that IAWIP would partner some government institutions, corporate bodies and educational institutions in Ghana to launch “The Ghana Essential Skills Initiative (GESI)”, to provide the youth with all the necessary skills for the job market.
“The Success Degree Programme is a solution that can easily be embedded into existing work skills and entrepreneurial training programmes which will significantly impact the success ration of the students involved in hard skills programs,” she explained.
The president of NASPA, Mr Emmanuel Wit Duncan Agbogah, in his address indicated that the training had made the association to recognize the challenges with leadership and employee communication.
On his part, the Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Mr Osei Assbiey Antwi, urged the participants to take the training provided them seriously since it would help them succeed in their day-to-day activities.
Recounting similar training the IAWIP provided the management and directors of the NSS, he said the training aided with the implementation of the scheme’s new vision of “deployment for employment.”
BY JESSEL LARTEY THERSON-COFIE